Sarah Higgins is backing the Oliver Fisher Special Care Baby Trust’s Giraffe appeal to raise £25,000 to buy vital life saving equipment for the neo-natal unit at Medway Maritime Hospital.

That’s because without the unit her daughter Morgan, now seven, wouldn’t have survived.

When Morgan was born on June 22, 2001, she appeared to be a normal healthy baby. But when she didn’t sleep for 24 hours and started to fit it quickly become clear something seriously wrong.

Morgan was sent for a brain scan which revealed she had suffered a major haemorrhage at the centre of her brain.

Sarah and her husband Paul were told that even if Morgan survived, the chances were high that she would be left brain damaged and wouldn’t be able to walk or talk.

But, thanks to the medical care she received here in Medway, Morgan began to get better, and two-and-a-half-weeks later she was allowed home.

Today Morgan looks like any other seven-year-old and is a popular pupils at Balfour Junior School in Chatham.

Sarah, from Chatham, said: “Physically Morgan looks like any other child but she can’t read and write as well as the others due to her memory problems.

“I have to ask her more than 15 times to do things because she forgets almost immediately what I’ve asked her to do, but if it hadn’t been for the unit and the staff it may have been a very different story. She may not be alive today.

“Morgan wasn’t a premature baby but she still needed the help of the unit in order to survive her condition.

“We were finally told Morgan would survive on June 27, 2001 - she was just five days old.

“Things had been that bad that my husband and I had forgotten our wedding anniversary. It was only after we were told the good news and we went to the restaurant to get something to eat that we realised what day it was.

“The unit’s work really is vital and I would urge everyone to support the trust’s appeal. You never know when you or someone you know may need it.”

n Anyone wishing to make a donation by cheque is asked to mark on the back either MM if they have read about the appeal in the Medway Messenger, or kmfm if heard about on the radio.

n Cheques should be made payable to The Oliver Fisher Special Care Baby Trust and sent to Pat Bagley, the Oliver Fisher Special Care Baby Trust, Medway Maritime Hospital, Windmill Road, Gillingham, ME7 5NY.

To organise a fund-raising event call Pat on 01634 825122 between 9am and 4.30pm on Tuesday and Thursday or email patricia.bagley@medway.nhs.uk

Planning a fund-raising event in aid of the Oliver Fisher Special Care Baby Trust’s Giraffe appeal? Let the Medway Messenger know and we’ll publicise your event.

Call the newsdesk on 01634 227803.

The campaign is also being backed by our radio station kmfm.

Tune in throughout December for regular updates on the appeal.

If every one of our 60,000 readers gave just 50p to the appeal then the Giraffe Appeal would not only make the £25,000 it needs to raise, but also an extra £5,000 to buy or upgrade vital equipment for the unit.